NYCFC Draws With Montreal

New York City Football Club gave up a late goal to walk out with just a 1-1 draw with the Montreal Impact at a frigid Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

This was a tough day for either side to get anything going on offense, as a rain and snow mix came down throughout the game.

NYCFC broke through right before the half, as Rodney Wallace scored his second goal in as many games in the 44th minute.

Wallace swooped in and buried a rebound off a shot from Alexander Ring. He has scored in his first two matches at Yankee Stadium, the only player to do that for NYCFC.

Wallace said of his goal and being in the right place at the right time, “Just being alert and following the plays. I think today we created several chances and it’s important for us to attack from different angles”

NYCFC Head Coach Patrick Vieira said of playing Wallace at forward, “I think his work ethic. He loves the game. He’s working hard in training in the game. He’s got a really good attitude in the dressing room. All the players love him. I like his character. He’s did really well in the league. He won the title, so he knows how to do it. He’s got good experience as well, but I think what I really love about him is the way he’s competing when he’s on the field and he can score goals.”

In the 68th minute, Montreal’s Dominic Oduro came down the center of the field and drilled it just under the crossbar to tie the game at 1.

Jonathan Lewis made his professional debut for NYCFC. He came on as a substitute for Jack Harrison in the 79th minute.

David Villa had a three regular season home-match scoring streak snapped today. Heading into today’s match, Villa had scored in five of his last six regular season home matches.

NYCFC remains undefeated at home in their last 10 regular season matches, going 8-0-2 (W-L-D), outscoring opponents 29-10.

Vieira said of whether there is a disappointment in not getting the three points today, and also on Wallace’s goal, “Yeah, we’re really frustrated because we think we should have won this game, but this is a game of football. If you don’t take your chances, you will most likely leave the door open for the patient team and Rodney’s goal – he deserved it. He deserved it because of the way he’s working for the team. He’s a team player, and I was really pleased with his goal because he’s working really hard when he’s on the field.”

Wallace said of the tie, “It’s very frustrating, I thought we dominated the game, we had a lot more shots on goal and defended well and at the end of the day these are games we want to win unfortunately the result did not go our way but the positive is we played a good game and did not lose so its a lot to build from.”